Virginia job market in good shape of late

Sep 19, 2017

Employment in Virginia has surged forward during the past several years. Fairfax News reported that per an official announcement from the office of Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the state created 215,000 jobs between January 2014 and August 2017. Additionally, Virginia's seasonal unemployment rate - 3.8 percent in August - is third-lowest in the southeastern U.S., following Arkansas and Tennessee.

Wage growth increased considerably within the past several years, according to the Federal Reserve of St. Louis. Total salaries and wages rose 12.2 percent, while average hourly wages went up 7.4 percent.

McAuliffe spoke highly of the state's hiring performance in his office's statement.

"Today's announcement is a testament to the work we have done recruiting more private-sector investment into the Commonwealth [of Virginia] and building a stronger foundation for long-term economic growth," McAuliffe said. "I'm proud of the work we have done creating jobs and increasing wages."

All told, Virginia created 60,000 private-sector jobs between August 2016 and August 2017, while losing only 1,300 positions - all of them in the public sector.

Local governments throughout the state are working to support job growth through various initiatives. One of these is the GO Virginia Region One council, based in western Virginia. According to The Coalfield Progress, this particular group is focused on advancing the IT, energy, food production and advanced manufacturing sectors.